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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29314794">There'll Be Peace</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChantoStar/pseuds/ChantoStar'>ChantoStar</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Harvelle's Roadhouse (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Season/Series 15, The Impala (Supernatural), The Men of Letters Bunker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:14:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,387</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29314794</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChantoStar/pseuds/ChantoStar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The end is near, they both know it, but Dean can't seem to let go of this one thing he has to do.</p><p>(A 15x20 fix-it that tries to give people some closure)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Max/Stacy (Supernatural: Lebanon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>There'll Be Peace</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! So first of all I would like you all to know that my native language isn't English, so if there are some grammar or story mistakes I'm sorry, second of all this is my first time writing a fic like this and I'm honestly quite nervous about how everyone will react, but I hope you will like my take on the Supernatural finale.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A sudden beeping noise erupted in the bunker. Dean shot up in his bed, carefully putting his hand under his pillow to grab his gun for safety. Eventually when he felt his mind fully get rid of his sleep, he realised that it was just his alarm clock going off. </p><p>He carefully put the clock off and started to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He noticed his door slowly opening and in came walking Miracle who jumped on his bed to wish him good morning. Dean started hugging Miracle, this creature had given him so much joy for the short time he had been in his life. He was glad to have that again after what happened with-</p><p>No, he couldn’t think about that, if he did he was sure he was going to have a chick flick moment again. Best case scenario, he would cry about it and be moody the entire day and worst case scenario, Sam would walk in and he would have to explain why he was having a breakdown. He couldn’t go through that, not today, not the day when he might get it all back to normal.</p><p>He looked up from Miracle when he heard Sam walking down the hallway. It was probably a good time to start making breakfast. To be honest he was starving and he wasn’t going to let Sam ruin his breakfast with all of his vegan stuff. He wanted bacon and eggs not some rabbit food that his brother would obviously be eating regardless of what Dean cooked. </p><p>He carefully grabbed Miracle to put him besides the bed. Miracle gave him those big puppy eyes he had grown to love which meant ‘I wanna stay here a little longer’, Dean looked at him with adoration “Sorry buddy, but we got work today and I’m sure you’re hungry too”<br/>
Miracle slowly walked out of his room presumably to look for Sam. Dean followed him soon after.</p><p>Sam was already sitting at a table in the kitchen having some salad on his plate. Dean rolled his eyes at him and walked over to the fridge in order to start baking some bacon. After looking after it for a few minutes he turned around to Sam who was  finishing up his plate. “So how are you and Eileen doing?” Sam started looking at him “Huh?” </p><p>“Well you and her were really close before all of it went down you know. So I was just curious as to why she hasn’t been around here, please don’t tell me there’s been trouble in paradise.” </p><p>Sam sighed to Dean’s comments, “Dean, Eileen hasn’t been around because she’s finishing up hunting.  She says she wants to retire but first do a victory tour. She made an entire bucket list of monsters she wants to hunt one last time.”</p><p>Dean chuckled at that, Eileen had always been a strong minded person taking risks despite the danger of it. “I talked to her yesterday, she said she was going to Sioux Falls to help out Jody and the girls. Apparently there’s a pack of werewolves attacking people. So Jody called Eileen to help out as she still had werewolves on her bucket list.  I’m a bit worried, you know?” Sam continued</p><p>Dean nodded along with the story and when Sam was finished talking he asked “How are Jody and the girls?” Sam didn’t automatically respond, his mind was obviously still revolving around his concern for Eileen’s safety but when Sam felt Miracle lick his hand as if to remind him to answer Dean’s question, he realised that he should probably answer him.</p><p>“Eileen didn’t say much about them, just that Jody is thinking about retiring as well and that Claire and Kaia finally started dating. No updates on Alex or Patience but I think that they are doing alright because otherwise she would have mentioned it.” </p><p>Dean started laughing “So Claire finally dared to ask Kaia out. Thought that would never happen.” </p><p>Sam smiled at that “Well looks like we are all getting our happy endings.” Dean’s smile faltered at that. Of course he was happy that Claire and Kaia were together and that Eileen would definitely start dating Sam again after her victory tour but he knew that not everyone was getting their happy ending.</p><p>Sam noticed his brother becoming saddened. “Dean, are you okay?” Dean looked up at his brother. </p><p>“Yeh, yeh I’m fine, by the way did you find a case? Because I think I might have found one. It appears to be some supernatural occultists that have been haunting Ohio for a while now. There were several attacks back in the day and they are apparently making a return.” </p><p>Sam nodded “Well I haven’t found a case yet so we could definitely look into what you found. We might want to hurry up though because the drive might take a long time and we still need to find a place for Miracle to stay.”</p><p>Dean shook his head “Don’t worry about Miracle, I went to town and came across Max and Stacy, they had their doubts at first but after I showed them a picture of this little cutie” </p><p>Dean pointed towards Miracle who was still standing next to the table where Sam was sitting. “They willingly accepted to take care of him when he needs a place to go when we are hunting.” Sam looked genuinely surprised that Dean had put so much effort into this. Sure they were looking for a place for Miracle to stay when they were hunting but they only truly talked about it once. So it was surprising that he took action so quickly.</p><p>“Uhm okay, that’s solved then I guess? But I do want to look into it myself a bit, do you have a few sources where I can read up on the case? You could bring Miracle to Max and Stacy while I’m reading up.” </p><p>Dean shrugged “Sure let me just look up where I found it all.” He quietly walked over to the table where he had dropped his phone when he first walked in. After a few google searches, he showed Sam some websites where he could read up on the case. Dean grabbed a little bit of bacon and shoved it towards Miracle who was happily wagging his tail.</p><p>“Come on buddy, we’re going to visit some friends.” and with that he left Sam alone in the kitchen. </p><p>Dean started walking with Miracle to the garage and then started up Baby to go to the town. His mind was rushing full of thoughts, so he may have sort of lied to Sam about the case. There was in fact a group of occultists active in Ohio but they hadn’t harmed anyone since the 50s. They sounded more like the old Men of Letters rather than actual evil satanic cult stuff. </p><p>But he had to give Sam a reason to search for them, he couldn’t say that he just wanted to go look for them, because Sam would obviously question him about why. The truth was that there was a rumour that the occultists were experts in the afterlife. They apparently knew everything about Heaven, Hell and Purgatory.</p><p>So Dean figured they might know something about the Empty. He couldn’t leave Cas there, he just couldn’t. </p><p>Cas…… poor Cas. He sacrificed himself for Dean, all because he loved him. Dean couldn’t believe it. An angel of the lord who fell in love with the righteous man. He could have never imagined an angel being capable of even feeling love, especially not for him.</p><p>But Cas, like always, had to be the exception. He always went out of his way to save Dean out of love, so now Dean would try and do it in return. Even though deep in his heart, he knew that he would never be able to fully repay Cas for everything he had done.</p><p>After Cas was taken, Dean was broken and left with a bunch of feelings that he had never addressed before. His slow realisation that he loved Cas back was met with a pile of bad memories from his youth.</p><p>He remembered John scoffing at some gay couples, he and Dean had seen at a bar one time. John had turned to him and had said “Son, watch out for those people over there. They might just try to give you some unwanted attention.” That and many more homophobic comments caused Dean to shut down any attraction he might have felt towards another man.</p><p>And even after John died, Dean didn’t feel allowed to be himself. Even after meeting Charlie, Jesse and Caesar he just couldn’t accept it for himself, but Cas… His feelings for Cas had always been there.  He just never thought he was permitted to have them.</p><p>And then Cas had confessed and it all came crashing down on him. He loved him so much and he never even got to tell him. But if he got him back he wouldn’t hesitate. </p><p>‘There is no braver action in life than allowing yourself to love’ he thought to himself. He softly smiled, who would have thought that Cas would have made him such a poet. He looked out of the window and saw that he was quickly approaching Max’s house. </p><p>He drove Baby into a parking spot near the house and took Miracle out of the car. Miracle looked a bit confused but walked along with him curiously. Upon reaching Max’s house, he knocked on the door and it was opened by her.</p><p>“Hey” Dean said whilst giving her a small wave. Max looked him up and down and saw Miracle standing besides him. She immediately got on her knees and started petting him on the head. “Look at what a cutie, you are” </p><p>“Max? Who’s that” a boy walked up to the door. After a few seconds Dean was able to recognise him. It was Eliot, the boy who had apparently been Jack’s best friend for about 5 hours before Jack accidentally hurt Stacey. “Oh, hello Dean and…” he looked at Miracle</p><p>Dean was about to open his mouth but Max beat him to it “This is Miracle. Stacy and I promised we would take care of him if they would go hunting monsters.”</p><p>Eliot nodded along with the story. “Well Stacy just texted me that she will be over in 10 minutes.”</p><p>Max started blushing, she was completely smitten with Stacy. Dean saw what was happening and handed Miracle over to Max. “So take good care of him. He doesn’t require much and if you don’t have enough dog food, I brought some with me.” Max made a motion that showed that it wasn’t necessary.</p><p>Dean nodded and kneeled down to give Miracle a kiss on the head. “Ok buddy, me and Sammy are going on one last big hunt. I promise I’ll come back, and maybe, just maybe I’ll come back with a new friend. You would like to meet Cas right?” Miracle looked up at him and wagged his tail. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Dean softly smiled.</p><p>He patted Miracle on the head and stood up to leave. He looked at Max once again “Thank you for wanting to take care of him.” She nodded at him and smiled. </p><p>“No problem. Now go do your hunting stuff.” that got a small laugh out of Dean as he turned around and started walking towards Baby.</p><p>A drive later, Dean had arrived back at the bunker. Sam had moved from the kitchen to the library table and was clearly waiting for Dean. </p><p>When he saw Dean come in, he pointed towards the seat across from him as if ordering Dean to sit down. He walked over to the table and carefully took a seat whilst Sam was giving him one of his ‘We need to talk’ looks. </p><p>Sam opened his mouth to say something but Dean stopped him, “Look Sammy, before you pull a chick flick moment on me where you tell me I should ‘calm down with the hunting because we are free now’, I just want you to know that I also think we should calm down, but I’m not sure why but this case. I feel drawn to it and I promise that after we are done there, I will be more careful” </p><p>Sam gave Dean a sympathetic look, as if he knew there was more behind this case than Dean was telling him but also knew that Dean was not ready to talk about it. “That’s not what I wanted to say Dean, when you were out I was skyping with Eileen…”</p><p>He paused and looked at Dean once again, as if he hoped that an unsaid apology would flow between them. “She said that after the werewolves, only vampires are left and that she will be done really soon. She talked to me about retiring and said she wants to settle down with someone… that someone being me and don’t worry this isn’t a definite answer and I’ll give it more thought but I think I would like that too.”</p><p>Sam continued to look at Dean with eyes that were seemingly a bit afraid of Dean’s reaction, all the while Dean was looking at Sam as if his mind was somewhere else completely. “Dude, did you hear anything I just said?” </p><p>It looked as if that statement had given Dean a reality check and he said “Yes of course, but I’m not sure why you sound so scared to say it. I would love for you to settle down with someone as great as Eileen, I still think that she could do better but if this is what you both want. I will be supportive, also it’s not like we’ll never see each other again, just less and besides I could take a break from finding all my food replaced by rabbit food everytime I open the fridge.”</p><p>Sam smiled in relief, his brother’s approval was everything he could have hoped for. “Thank you Dean. Anyways so I looked into the case a bit more and I see potential here but you do know there hasn’t been a report of them doing something violent since 1958. I mean there’s not even a report of a secret hide out or identification of members over the years. What if they are just hunters trying to outlive their old family members' reputations? I mean we had to. It isn't like the Men of Letters were such saints.” </p><p>Dean’s face lost colour a bit, no he couldn’t have Sam figure it out… he quickly improvised and said “Look Sammy I don’t know what it is, but I really feel like these people are real trouble. Please just trust me, we’ll go there, see if anything is out of the ordinary like we always do and if not then booya, E.T goes home.” </p><p>Sam seemed to consider this for a moment and then said “Alright but we don’t even know where to locate them.” Dean gave him a cheeky grin that meant that he was hiding something. </p><p>“Don’t worry about that, I got it covered. Let’s roll.” Sam let out a small laugh at seeing his brother so excited, although he definitely knew something was off. Dean wasn’t being fully honest about something, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.</p><p>The drive towards Ohio was filled with uneasy quietness. Dean looked like he had a clear destination in mind, while Sam was still very much confused about the whole situation. Why was his brother so focused on this particular case. There was so little that seemed off about the occultists that he wasn’t sure at all why Dean was so bothered by it. There were multiple instances during the drive where Sam attempted to get Dean to take a break from driving, but Dean, the stubborn son of a bitch that he was, refused to. </p><p>It was already pretty dark when they finally seemed to arrive at what Sam could only assume to be their destination. It looked like an abandoned barn of some sorts, Dean put Baby in a safe parking spot and got out of the car. Sam followed him soon after and started walking to the back of Baby to get some weapons out of the trunk, but Dean stopped him.</p><p>“That won’t be necessary Sammy, if I’m correct, we’ll make it out just fine.” Sam started to get really annoyed now. </p><p>“Dean please just tell me the truth, you have been acting shifty about this case from the start. I mean come on, you even refused to stop driving even though I promised we would eat some pie and now you don’t even want to take weapons in there? What are you not telling me?”</p><p>Dean looked at him with a serious face “Please, just trust me, I know what I am doing.” Sam gave him the ‘I don’t believe you’ look, but went along with him anyway. What else could Sam do. His brother was going to do this whether or not Sam liked it, he had made that pretty clear.</p><p>He carefully followed Dean into the barn. Dean looked determined as ever. He seemed to be looking around suspiciously although Sam couldn’t exactly see it from the angle he was standing.</p><p>Dean suddenly stopped and yelled “Alright, you all can come out now we don’t have any weapons. Let’s settle this.”, Sam gave him a ‘what the hell are you doing’ glance and started looking around as well.</p><p>Suddenly a young woman stepped out of the shadows. Her long red hair was sticking out of the hood that she was wearing which mostly concealed her face. “Hello, Sam and Dean Winchester and here I was thinking you wouldn’t show up, so have you done what you promised?.” she said in an odd accent that Dean could only describe as somewhat European.</p><p>“Yes, everything’s gone just like promised. So now we are going to talk” Sam looked at Dean confused as if he didn’t understand a single thing that Dean had just said.</p><p>“Oh, you didn’t tell him. Sam what did your brother tell you in order for you to come here? Wait let me guess, he said we are some threat to the local people and he needs us gone for them to be safe?” An akward pause happened and it was clear from the way she was speaking, that she was smirking.</p><p>“Am I at least close?” Sam gave Dean a more confused and slightly angered look, he knew something was off about this case but it appeared that he had been working with these people or at least had been in contact with them before this.</p><p>“Dean, what the hell? We promised we wouldn’t hide anything anymore, you know with Chuck no longer controlling us. I thought we were over this. The constant lying, hell I was so confident that we were over this that I was honest with you about wanting to retire with Eileen even though I was scared of your reaction. Tricking me to come here is insane!” Sam said in an angered tone</p><p>Dean looked at him with a sympathetic glance. “Look Sam, I’m sorry but I knew you wouldn’t let me go alone and I’m not sure you would’ve come with me if you knew the truth.” </p><p>“And that truth is?” Sam said while moving his head to look at both Dean and the woman with the red hair. </p><p>“I think I can partially answer that, your brother contacted us a few days ago and asked for a favour. We asked him one in return. He agreed and now here we are.” Sam still looked as confused as he did before she explained it.</p><p>“You know that really doesn’t clear anything up, how did you even know how to contact them Dean and once again why didn’t you just tell me?” Sam fully turned towards Dean but Dean seemed to have his full concentration on the woman.</p><p>Dean opened his mouth as if to say something but once again the woman interrupted “I can once again explain to ease it for your brother. You see back in the 50s, our organisations worked closely together, the Men of Letters were our allies. They studied monsters and creatures while we studied the afterlife. To make it easier for us to keep in contact Cuthbert Sinclair created a spell that would send letters to us in an instant, the predecessor of texting you might say.” </p><p>She walked around a bit while talking, clearly uncomfortable with staying in one place for too long. Dean couldn’t blame her, she probably thought that there was a strong possibility that this was a trap and that he would do something that would harm her.</p><p>She continued speaking “But when the Men of Letters were slaughtered in 1958, we decided to stop with everything, we went into hiding and decided to only continue once we knew that there was no direct threat. We continued a year later, but now we did it more calmly, no  more hurting people just for a bit of research, and since then we’ve kept quiet. We don’t want any attention from anyone, no hunters, no monsters and especially no Men of Letters.”</p><p>She stopped walking and stood still for a few seconds. “So imagine my surprise when suddenly a note appeared on my table. The person writing claiming they were Dean Winchester looking for a favour, after we talked about it for a while we agreed. If he destroyed all of the information the Men of Letters had on us, including the spell and since we are all here now. I think that he did”</p><p>Sam saw on Dean’s face that he was becoming tired of hearing her talk. “Alright that makes sense, but I still don’t get it why he came to you for a fa-” </p><p>“Alright enough with the bull, Sammy I’m sorry I lied but I’m pretty sure you will understand. So Natasha Romanoff did you do what I asked?” Dean said abruptly, it earned him an annoyed glance from Sam who didn’t understand why Dean had to reference pop culture in this situation.</p><p>“If you are asking whether or not I kept my promises, I did. Come out boys.” She said in a sing-songy voice. A group of men wearing skeleton-like masks walked out of the shadows. One of them was holding a man who was clearly cuffed and who had a bag around his head. </p><p>Dean stiffened up and looked at her with anger in his eyes. “What is this, this is not part of our deal.” Sam appeared to be concerned as this was clearly not something Dean had expected much less something he himself had. </p><p>“I’m using this as a point. Don’t worry.” she said irritated. Sam suddenly became very aware that they had not taken any weapons with them inside. If this woman was about to betray them they would have no way of defending themselves. Sam put his body in a defensive state just in case.</p><p>“Alright enough, what favour did he ask you people because I still don’t get it and sorry if I’m a bit on edge, but I don’t trust somebody that I don’t know. Especially not those with a record of violence.” Sam finally flipped out. He looked at Dean who just said</p><p>“Sammy I-”, until he was stopped by the woman who spoke up, “Look Sam is right, you’re being way too secretive about this, so I will just say it. Your brother contacted us on a way to get somebody out of the Empty.”</p><p>Suddenly realisation struck across Sam’s face. Of course Dean would do something like this, he hadn’t told Sam much about what happened with Cas  but Sam knew it had hurt Dean deeply. Trying to bring their loved ones back from the death was the Winchester way… he should’ve seen this coming.</p><p>Dean meanwhile was giving Sam a somewhat embarrassed look. He realised that it wouldn’t take long before Sam would start to connect the dots and figure out why they were here, but he also felt hopeful. If the woman had kept her promise then she would be the key to getting Cas back.</p><p>“Anyways, we brought you some proof that our way works.” The woman walked over to the man who had a bag over his head and pulled it off.</p><p>Dean and Sam both seemed to recognise him, as their faces paled. Sam cleared the silence first “U..Uriel?” The angel just gave them a dirty look and remained silent.</p><p>“I see you have met before, well whatever, all you need to do is say this spell whilst holding out a piece of an angel or a demon before you, it can be a part of them or something that belonged to them. Blood is the preferable option” She walked over to Dean and handed him a paper with a spell.</p><p>Dean started looking at her suspiciously “It can’t be this easy. If it was I would’ve figured it out myself.” That got Sam looking up at him with surprise, so Dean had been researching the Empty before this.</p><p>“You would be right, had it been under different circumstances. You see the thing that connects Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and the Empty is Death. When they are gone, it becomes a lot easier to come in those spaces, because nobody is defending the gate. We freed Uriel over here just after you killed the first Death. When the second Death arose we were unable to get in again, but we have it on good authority that they are killed as well. So now the gateway should be open freely.” </p><p>She walked back over to Uriel “Do you need anything from an angel or do you have something. I wouldn’t mind cutting something off from him.” Uriel looked as if he wanted to say something snarky and rude but couldn’t.  </p><p>Dean rolled his eyes and said “No, I have something here. How do you even manage to get him to shut up. Last time I saw him, he was still talking about his master plan like crazy.” </p><p>“Silencing spell. He wouldn’t shut his mouth so we had to do something.” She let out a small laugh. “I assume you want to do the spell here and now. So we will be departing. Oh but before we go, I do want to warn you. We got Uriel out when the Empty was asleep. It might not be as easy with them being awake, but I wish you good luck anyways. Boys, let’s go” and with that the men put the bag back over Uriel’s head and they all walked out of the barn. Leaving Sam and Dean alone to finally talk.</p><p>“Ok, Dean, why didn’t you just tell me you wanted to save Cas. I would’ve agreed because I don’t know if you noticed but Cas was my friend too. Look I’m not happy that you lied to me but we are going to save him together.” Sam gave Dean a reassuring look but all he saw in Dean’s face was sadness and regret.</p><p>“No Sam, this is not a matter of we. I am going to do this alone. I have to be the one to fix this.” He looked at Sam more determined than ever. Like he was not about to put himself into mortal danger in order to save somebody else.</p><p>Outside of the barn it had started raining. The brothers however didn’t seem to grant the sound of the raindrops much attention as they were too caught up in the conversation.</p><p>“What are you talking about? Of course we are going to do it together.”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“No Sam, I got him into this mess so I will get him out. It’s too dangerous for us both”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“So what, is it not dangerous when you go there alone? Besides Cas sacrificed himself that was not your fault.”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“For me, he sacrificed himself for me. Whatever Sam you wouldn’t understand.”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“Then explain it to me!”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“Fine! Just imagine what you would feel like if Eileen was in there!”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“Oh come on Dean you know that isn’t the same thing.”<br/>
Drop</p><p>“ISN’T IT!”<br/>
...</p><p>A dead silence erupted throughout the barn and something in Dean’s face broke. There… it was out. A secret that he had been keeping for years now was finally revealed to his brother. Did… did Cas feel this way when he confessed, the sheer amount of fear of finally admitting it was overwhelming to Dean and he couldn’t  bring himself to look up at Sam.<br/>
“Dean I am so-” </p><p>“Before Cas died, he told me something. In order to summon the Empty, he had to have true happiness. He had made a deal with the Empty in order to save Jack, that it would only come for him when he was truly happy.  He told me that happiness wasn’t in the having and that it was in just being and saying it and then… he told me he loved me.”</p><p>Tears started escaping Dean’s eyes no matter how much he was trying to prevent them from slipping through. “and I-, I just froze. I didn’t say anything back and before I knew it, my back was against the wall and he vanished before me, and I’ll never forgive myself for not saying anything and letting him die without knowing he was loved.”</p><p>Dean’s voice broke as he was speaking and Sam’s face became more and more saddened by Dean’s speech. He thought that after Chuck after everything they could finally be happy, but Dean’s apparent happiness up until now was clearly faked because Dean couldn’t be truly happy without Cas. </p><p>He could fake it certainly but he had been doing that for years now hadn’t he. What was it that Frank had once said, oh yes ‘Decide to be fine until the end of the week. Make yourself smile, because you're alive and that's your job. Then do it again the next week.’ </p><p>After Frank had said that to him something within Dean had changed, almost like a small part of him died, but whenever Dean was together with Cas or even with someone else but with the knowledge that Cas was safe, that part appeared to become alive again.</p><p>Dean would always put Sam first, he had his entire life and he wouldn’t stop now, but Cas provided Dean with something else to live for. He hadn’t realised what it was for a very long time, but when he realised it, it hit hard. Cas offered Dean unconditional love and Dean sometimes felt like he gave Cas nothing in return.</p><p>“I have to do this alone. I have to make this right, Sam, promise me one thing… If I don’t return please, just keep fighting. You have so much to live for, Eileen, Charlie, Bobby, Jody, Donna, Claire they will be there for you even when I can’t be.” Dean looked Sam in the eyes and saw they were filled with tears as well.</p><p>“Dean please.” Sam muttered so softly that Dean almost didn’t hear it.</p><p>“Promise me, Sam…” Sam slowly nodded as if his voice had completely disappeared, Dean brought their foreheads together. “I want you to know that I love you so much.” </p><p>Sam gave Dean one last hug and then nodded as if to say that he was ready for what was about to come. Dean nodded as well and took off his coat which still had the remains of Cas’s bloody handprint. Just like Cas used the handprint to get Dean out of hell, Dean would use the handprint to get Cas out of the Empty.</p><p>He looked at the spell that was written down on the paper that the woman had given him. He held the coat out in front of him and spoke out the spell loudly.</p><p>After he was done chanting, a door appeared before him. It was surrounded by the black goo that was expected from the Empty and looked at it with more determination than ever. ‘alright this is it’ he thought to himself, he gave Sam one last look and stepped into the portal and into the Empty.</p><p>At first Dean thought he had gone blind, all he could see was black, everywhere he turned, everywhere he looked it was just black nothingness. The only reassurance he had was that he was still able to see himself.</p><p>He walked around in what felt like a maze. Dean swore he could feel the negative energy that was coming from every single angel and demon who was forced to sleep and relive bad memories over and over again. He himself began feeling extremely negative, not seeing where to go. </p><p>Suddenly a noise behind him caused him to turn around, sitting there upon a chair was Meg. She looked at him with annoyance and sighed. “Again, just when I thought I was finally going to get rest one of you screws it up, again.”</p><p>Dean looked at her questioningly and was about to say something but Meg interrupted. “Before you’re about to ask me whether or not I am Meg, I am not. Hi, the Empty, not so nice to meet you. Let me guess, you’re here for your boyfriend.” </p><p>“Where. Is. He.”</p><p> The Empty let out a laugh “Somewhere, where you won’t easily find him. He kept waking up so I put his mind far far away.” </p><p>Dean looked at them with desperation “Please, I swear to whoever that I will find a way to kill you, if you don’t tell me where he is right now.” </p><p>The Empty smiled and let out a small laugh “You’re a human, I’m older than time, what could you possibly do to me?”</p><p>Dean started looking at them smugly now “I killed Death twice, I almost killed God and guess what, I will find a way to kill you too.”</p><p>“You amuse me, Dean Winchester, even if you managed to kill me, what do you think would happen to this place? With me gone, there is no Empty for angels and demons to go. Your precious Castiel would disappear forever too.” they laughed and looked at Dean with amusement that came from seeing him struggle.</p><p>“However,  I am willing to make a deal.” Dean’s face paled when they said that, a deal had gotten Cas into this mess, he wouldn’t make the same mistake.</p><p>“No way, you are going to let us both leave. No strings attached.” </p><p>“Bold of you to assume that I would want either of you here. Dean, I have nothing against you. Your angel is the one who woke me up, not you. His presence here already bothers me because I had a feeling that you, your brother or your son would show up to ruin my peace. So I have a proposal for you and no it doesn’t involve either of you sacrificing your life.” </p><p>Dean gave them a suspicious look, the Empty was not to be trusted, their own agenda was the only thing that they cared about, but… if this was truly a way to get Cas back then maybe he should hear them out. “What does this proposal entail?” </p><p>“Simple, I send you into Castiel’s mind and you have to wake him up and convince him to give up his grace. If that happens, I will allow you both to leave without any consequences. If you fail to wake him up, you leave alone and you or anyone of your little friends will never be able to return here. Either way works for me and I will finally be able to sleep again.” The Empty sighed and looked pleased with themselves.</p><p>Dean meanwhile was processing the proposal… So either he got Cas back unharmed, but human or he would be forced to be seperated from Cas for forever. The answer would seem so obvious, but would Cas be okay with being human.</p><p>Last time Cas was human, he was in constant pain, Dean would never want to put Cas through that again, but then again… last time Cas had nowhere to go. Now he would have Dean, Sam and a lot of other people to help and support him. </p><p>Dean only hesitated one moment longer and then said “Deal.” </p><p>The Empty started smirking, “So this is where it finally ends.” they then snapped their fingers and Dean felt himself fall into a dream like state.</p><p>When he opened his eyes, everything around him was blurry at first almost as if just waking up from a long sleep. He noticed there was something in his pocket and he emptied it to check what it was. It was a veil and a blade, Dean immediately figured out this was for extracting Cas’s grace. He carefully put the items back in his pocket.</p><p>Everywhere he looked he saw snow, he supposed this was one of Cas’s memories however he didn’t remember spending time with Cas in the snow, so he wondered why this was such a prevalent memory to him. </p><p>After walking around for a bit he saw Cas sitting there upon a bench between two trees. He quickly walked to Cas who didn’t seem to notice him. “Cas?”, he didn’t respond, he just continued looking into the distance as if Dean wasn’t there, “Buddy, you need to wake up.” </p><p>Once again nothing changed, he kept staring out in front of him, he suddenly spoke up “I remember the most remarkable event, remarkable because it never came to pass. It was averted by two boys, an old drunk and a fallen angel. The grand story. And we ripped up the ending and the rules...And destiny...leaving nothing but freedom and choice. Which is all well and good, except... Well, what if I've made the wrong choice? How am I supposed to know? I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you my story.Let me tell you everything.”</p><p>Dean looked at him confused, when was this? Who was Cas talking to, there was nobody close in the area to hear him say this. He thought about it and realised this must’ve taken place some time before the Leviathans if Bobby was still alive. Wait was this Cas being forced to relive his memories of choosing to open Purgatory. </p><p>Yes, it had been a stupid mistake that Cas made but Dean understood why he had made it. He thought he was protecting Heaven and Earth and most of all his family. Dean could relate to that. He had forgiven Cas for all of this a long time ago. </p><p>Dean approached Cas even more kneeling down in front of him, “Cas, this isn’t your fault. You thought you were protecting everyone you loved, yes it ended badly but you had good intentions. I was angry then but now I don’t hold this against you whatsoever. I promise you. Please just snap out of it.”  </p><p>For a moment it felt like Cas was looking at him and breaking through the memory but then everything in their surroundings started changing. It was no longer day and there was no snow anywhere in sight. </p><p>It was now night and Cas was standing across from a field of some sorts. He was looking up at the sky and Dean slowly started realising when this was and why it was one of Cas’s regrets.<br/>
The angels were falling from the sky, of course Cas would blame himself for that. Once more it seemed as if Cas didn’t notice Dean, so he ran across the field towards him and only stopped when he was right in front of him.  </p><p>“You’re not to blame for this. Metatron tricked you. He manipulated you into doing something you never wanted to do. This.” he pointed towards the sky “was never your plan. You know that right. I understand that you regret what happened but you can’t blame yourself for something which you had no part in. Cas… you need to wake up, you don’t deserve to relive all of this forever.”</p><p>Something shifted in Cas’s face, almost realising that this wasn’t right, but before either one of them could say anything, the scenery changed again. This time it was a place that Dean did recognise.</p><p>It was where they had fought over the angel tablet. He could see a memory version of himself sitting across the room, Cas with an angel blade in hand stalking towards him. Dean came to a realisation. Cas could see and understand the memory version of himself. </p><p>And since the memory version of him was technically still him could he possibly take his place? Dean focussed on his counterpart and wishing he was in his place. A moment later he felt himself being transported across the room. When he looked above him, he saw Cas standing there with an angel blade above his head. </p><p>Dean tried to make Cas listen to him but the punches kept coming in. Ultimately Dean managed to pull through the pain and he looked Cas directly in the eyes. </p><p>“Cas… please, you have to wake up. I need you. You remember what you said to me before you left? You said that the one thing you wanted, you couldn’t have, you were wrong, so wrong. I-, I don’t know when or where but somewhere along our time together, I realised how much you meant to me, how much you’ve done, how much you’ve sacrificed and every time you tried to talk to me, I pushed you away and I am so sorry that I did that.” </p><p>His eyes began to start watering, it seemed like Cas was still not aware of Dean’s true presence. The angel blade was still being held above his head, but just like last time, Dean would get through to him.  </p><p>“And I’m even more sorry that you were in love with me, because everyone who loves me gets hurt, but that’s why I am here now. I’m here to get you back and when I do, I will never let you go, I will protect you and make sure that you’re happy without having to worry about consequences. Cas… I love you more than you can imagine and if you don’t believe me, kill me now, I deserve it.” </p><p>Dean closed his eyes expecting the final blow to land but nothing happened and when he looked up, he saw Cas looking at him with tearful eyes, not at the memory version of him, no he was looking at him.</p><p>“Dean…” Cas said softly, “What did I tell about your stupid selfhatred…”</p><p>Dean’s face lit up with joy and Cas helped him up. He grabbed Cas’s face in his hands. He felt a smile form on his face. Cas smiled back at him and they stayed there for what must have been a few seconds but felt like an eternity.</p><p>Something like realisation seemed to hit Cas, “Dean, you shouldn’t be here. The Empty… it’s not a space safe for humans. You have to go protect yourself.”</p><p>Dean shook his head but didn’t let go of Cas, “Don’t worry. I-, I made a deal.” Cas’s face turned pale, the memories of his own deal were still freshly burned into his mind. As he started shaking his head in fear of losing Dean.</p><p>“No, no no no no.” He started whispering and Dean realised what it had sounded like when he said he had made a deal, Dean forced Cas to look up at him.</p><p>“It’s not like that, I promise. They said to me that if I woke you up and convinced you to give up your Grace that we would be allowed to leave without consequences.” Cas looked at him with distrust.</p><p>“Why would they allow that, last time I was awake, they hated me. Besides I’m useless to you as a hum-” Dean rolled his eyes and kissed him. Cas stood frozen at first but then kissed him back.</p><p>Dean pulled away after some time had passed, “Please, just trust me.” They stared at each other for a while before Cas nodded. “Wake up…”</p><p>It suddenly felt like Dean was being violently thrown out of a place. He felt himself once again being transported through space before opening his eyes to emptiness once more. Only this time Cas was besides him and also awake. He pointed towards his neck as if to sign where to cut out his Grace.</p><p>Dean grabbed the veil out of his pocket and the blade that had been given with it. He created a small cut on Cas‘s neck and his grace flew out and landed in the veil. After a while it appeared as if all the grace was out and Dean closed the veil. </p><p>A few seconds passed and nothing happened. They were still sitting there in the emptiness, “Come on! I did what you asked, you need to keep your end of the deal!” Dean swore he could hear a defeated sigh coming from the endless darkness.</p><p>Only a moment later Dean felt himself going through a portal, he grabbed Cas’s hand almost instinctively. He squeezed it carefully, afraid Cas would not come through the portal with him. He felt Cas carefully squish back.</p><p>After all the emptiness around them turned back into the barn where Dean had originally stepped into the portal, Dean let out a sigh of relief as he could still feel Cas’s hand in his own. He looked up and saw Sam staring at him and Cas.</p><p>For a moment that is the position they all remained in, Dean holding Cas’s hand while Sam was staring at them both. Suddenly Cas made a movement, causing Dean to give him a questioning look. </p><p>“Chuck, we have to stop Chuck. Where is Jack, did… did he not make it?” Cas looked extremely panicked and Dean couldn’t blame him, it wasn’t like they had had time to play catch up. He was about to answer but Sam was quicker.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it Cas. Chuck has been dealt with.” Calm set in on Cas’s face. “I’m glad you’re back.” Sam said as he moved to hug Cas.</p><p>Dean carefully let go of Cas’s hand so Cas could return Sam’s hug. “Thank you Sam, however that still doesn’t explain where Jack is.” </p><p>Sam sighed “That’s kind of a long story bud.” as he let go off Cas. </p><p>Dean softly smiled as he looked at his brother and his angel, “and we have all the time in the universe to tell it.” He moved towards Cas and grabbed his hand again, Cas returned the favour gladly and squeezed back once more. </p><p>Sam noticed that something had changed between Dean and Cas or more accurately something was now out in the open for the world to see. He smiled “Finally.”  Sam laughed whilst Dean gave him a bitch glare and Cas gave him one of his signature head tilt ‘I am confused’ looks.</p><p>And with that they walked out of the barn and towards Baby. Sam offered to drive but Dean said he would be able to himself. Cas let go of his hand and went to sit in the back of the Impala. Sam took his place in the passenger's seat and Dean took his signature drivers position.</p><p>He started Baby up and put on one of his cassettes, ‘Carry On My Wayward Son’ started playing loudly through the Impala, “Man, I love this song.” Dean said which earned him a laugh from both Cas and Sam.</p><p>And so with the song still playing and the sound of laughter and joy erupting throughout the Impala. The boys drove out into the sunset looking forward to adventures yet to come. </p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>As the years went by life changed a lot for the Winchesters and their family. Eileen had kept herself true to her word and had finished up hunting. Sam and her had married soon after and moved away from the bunker. </p><p>Dean could still remember the day Sam had enthusiastically called him saying that Eileen was pregnant. Dean was overjoyed at the idea of becoming an uncle and Cas was forced to endure his extreme happiness all day long.</p><p>Months later the baby was finally born, a little beautiful girl. They had agreed on the name Charlie for the baby but only if her second name would be Maura, named after Eileen’s mother on Sam’s persistence. </p><p>Charlie Maura Winchester-Leahy grew up knowing off the Supernatural world but wasn’t forced to hunt, Sam would never force that upon his child as it had been forced upon him and Dean. </p><p>Later on in their life they got another child. A son this time, Eileen had asked whether or not Sam wanted to name him after his father but Sam refused. He had a better name in mind, Henry after his grandfather and Garth to return the favour of Garth naming his child after him.</p><p>Dean had pretended to be offended after Sam didn’t name Henry after him, but said he didn’t mind. One Dean Winchester on the planet was enough for now.</p><p>As Charlie grew older she was more adamant of becoming a hunter whilst Henry would much rather live a quiet life. Sam and Eileen tried to help the both of them as best as they could in achieving their goals and despite being completely different Charlie and Henry were extremely close.</p><p>Charlie’s favourite uncle had always been Dean, he always let her do stuff that Sam wouldn’t, however he always did his best to keep her safe. In turn Cas was Henry’s favourite uncle, they could talk for hours about completely unimportant things and Henry still felt like he had fun every time he talked to Cas. </p><p>Cas was always happy to talk to Henry but he didn’t mind some alone time either, especially not when that alone time was with Dean.</p><p>Over the years Cas and Dean had made a little life with each other. Dean never quite managed to give up hunting for good, but he took on small cases only, ghosts, the occasional werewolf but nothing too bad.</p><p>They also both decided to stay in the bunker, Cas said that leaving it alone would increase the risk of somebody finding it and doing something evil with the ancient power the bunker contained. Dean had agreed on one condition, to make the bunker a permanent open place where young hunters could come if they had nowhere else to go.</p><p>And so the bunker became a place that was safe for hunters to stay or just recharge their energy. One day however something had changed in their lives. A severely wounded hunter had come stumbling into the bunker with a baby in his arms. He said he and his wife had been attacked by a vampire and that she hadn’t made it. </p><p>Dean tried to treat the man’s injuries whilst Cas made sure the baby was okay but the man wasn’t healing. Feeling the life leave him, he grabbed Dean’s arm and asked him to take care of the baby. Dean had nodded and promised him that he would. With his final breath the man had said that the baby’s name was Olivia named after the man’s wife.</p><p>From that day on Dean and Cas had taken care of Olivia and they had treated her the best way they could. Often Cas would take a moment in the day just to remember the first time he had seen Olivia laugh or the first time that she had said his name. Those moments would never leave him.</p><p>When Olivia was about 4, Sam had made a comment about Dean and Cas not being married yet which prompted Dean to pop the question. Cas had of course said yes and they married soon afterwards.</p><p>However it was not all happiness and joy, around 6 years after Dean had gotten Cas out of the Empty and 5 years after Olivia had become a part of their lives. Miracle passed away due to natural causes. </p><p>Dean had become incredibly silent the following days and it worried Cas. Even Olivia had noticed a change in Dean's behaviour and started avoiding him.</p><p>One night Cas had confronted Dean before they went to bed. Dean slowly but surely broke down and told Cas that Miracle felt like one of the last things he had that reminded him of Jack and that he missed him so badly. Cas  had never asked whether or not Dean meant missing Jack or Miracle that night but he had a feeling both options were correct.</p><p>Cas had given Dean a hug and said "You know, that ‘all dogs go to heaven’ statement that parents put out to calm their children is in fact true. Animals are innocent and don't deserve the cruelty forced upon them, most go off to a special part of heaven for animals only. However I have a feeling Miracle will be waiting for us."</p><p>That had made Dean smile softly and he had slowly processed Miracle’s passing afterwards. He even started telling Olivia stories about Jack as if he were her big brother, which in some regards he was. </p><p>Dean’s favourite moments over the years were the weekly family dinners they had together, Sam, Eileen, Cas, Charlie, Olivia, Henry, himself and sometimes Claire or Jody or Garth came together and just ate together whilst telling each other about that week’s events.</p><p>Charlie, Olivia and Henry always had a lot of fun together. Charlie and Olivia often teased Henry about being the youngest but Henry would find ways to get back at them and so it always ended up in laughter.</p><p>When Charlie turned 18 she decided to move to Sioux Falls to go to Claire who was still hunting and join her on hunts. Charlie saying goodbye was hard on Sam and Eileen but they knew it was just a part of parenthood.</p><p>Olivia decided to stay and help around the bunker when she turned 18. One day she had come into Dean and Cas’s room and said she had found the vampire that had killed her biological parents and that she wanted to hunt it. Cas was hesitant at first but Dean knew this was important to her and let her go.</p><p>She had come home a few days later and said she did it and that she could finally get closure. Henry turned 18, two years later and went off to law school, trying to complete the dream Sam never could. </p><p>As the years went by Sam, Dean, Cas and Eileen kept getting older and less active. Dean had given up hunting completely after his 60th birthday and Sam and Eileen both ultimately retired from the jobs that they had taken on after they quit hunting.<br/>
And so they lived out the rest of their lives. Until they were old and grey and had fulfilled their apple pie lives. </p><p>Ultimately they had all died around the same time, they didn’t even remember who went first but they all went in peace. All of them were greeted in Heaven by Jack who said that he had waited for them and that he had made changes to Heaven. </p><p>Miracle had walked up to them and immediately started jumping at Dean for his attention, even after all these years he still recognised him. Jack got pulled into a hug by Cas and later by Sam as well. Dean apologised to Jack about the way he used to treat him and Eileen watched their little family reunite with joy. </p><p>Jack pointed towards a road where the Impala suddenly appeared, after a small drive they arrived at what seemed to be Harvelle’s roadhouse. Inside was everybody that they had lost along the way, Bobby, Jo, Ellen, Ash, Charlie, Kevin everyone… </p><p>Dean gave Cas a small smile and gave him a kiss, Eileen proceeded to kiss Sam as well and so they were all together in heaven. Finally, they had eternal peace. </p><p>(For now…)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading my fic! Just some things to clarify in this timeline of events Dean saved Cas in December 2020, Charlie was born November 2021, Olivia was born March 2022 and came into Cas and Dean's lives June 2022, Henry was born on the 18th of May 2024, paralleling Jack's birth, Cas and Dean married in 2026, Miracle passed away in 2027, Charlie turned 18 in 2039, Olivia turned 18 in 2040 and Henry turned 18 in 2042.<br/>I don't have death dates for Sam, Dean, Castiel and Eileen so it's up for yourself to decide that. Anyways I hoped you liked reading my fic and see you all later. Peace ✌</p></blockquote></div></div>
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